Tactical technical communication in communities: legitimizing community-created user-generated instructions

Abstract

User-created guides, or the "do-it-yourself" (DIY) genre of online procedural discourse, offer their audience access to vital knowledge while allowing them to bypass traditional gatekeeping mechanisms. Some vulnerable communities must further subvert or "hack" institutions to gain access to information that they need to survive exclusive or oppressive policies. In this article, we present original data in an effort to legitimize the work these communities have done while also challenging the boundaries of what constitutes successful design. Edenfield shares his research of medical information-sharing practices of DIY hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for trans individuals. Ledbetter's study of YouTube's beauty community involved collecting and analyzing user-generated makeup tutorials on YouTube as well as interviewing women who self-identify as members of the community. Both studies prompt a reconsideration of what it means to create successful instructional guides. We suggest strategies for avoiding institutional appropriation of these communities' work and for identifying community spaces and the borders that can protect the wellbeing of marginalized individuals.